Nesting pallets and separators for stacking articles for annealing



2 Sheets-Sheet 1 S. C. NELSON NESTING PALLETS AND SEPARATORS FOR STACKING ARTICLES FOR ANNEALING Dec. 30, 1958 Filed Dec. 29, 1954 m mswrw? 5. 6. N51 SO/V 5/ M Dec. 30, 1958 s. c. NELSON NESTING PALLETS AND SEPARATORS FOR STACKING ARTICLES FOR ANNEALING 2 Sheets-Shet 2 Filed Dec. 29, 1954 FIG. 6

United States NESTING PALLETS AND SEPARATORS FOR STACKING ARTICLES FOR ANNEALING Application December 29, 1954, Serial No. 478,300

4 Claims. (Cl. 263-47) This invention relates to an open type of pallet and to perforated separators for supporting stacked articles in an annealing furnace and more particularly to a skeleton type pallet into which the fork of a lift truck may be inserted from any side for transporting the pallet and load thereon and which may be nested with the separators and other pallets when not in use.

An object of the invention is to provide a pallet of open framework for supporting a load in an annealing furnace and which is readily engageable from any side with the fork of a lift truck for the transport of the pallet and load thereon. I

/ Another object of the invention is to provide a pallet of skeleton construction with a perforated reversible plate for supporting a load thereon for annealing to per mit hot gases to circulate therethrough.

atent O F a A further object of the invention is to provide an open- I type pallet and perforated separator for supporting articles in superposed layers for annealing and capable of being skeleton framework into which the fork of a lift truck may be readily inserted from any one of the four sides thereof. A downwardly extending flange on the outer edge of the lower frame is adapted to nest with an upwardly extending flange along the outer edge of the upper lattice frame of another pallet for stacking the pallets when not in use, and a reversible steel plate is supported on the upper lattice frame within the upper flange for supportinga layer of spools of wire and providing free circulation of the heated gases through the pallet and the load thereon when placed in an annealing furnace. A separator comprising a perforated steel sheet having an upwardly directed flange along the edge thereof and a downwardly directed flange disposed outwardly beyond the upwardly directed flange isadapted to be placed on the layer of spools of wire on the pallet to form a plat form for supporting another layer of spools of wire thereon. The flanges on the separator cooperate with the flanges on the other separators and the flanges on the pallets for nesting the separators and pallets to permit them to be stacked when not in use.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent by reference to the following detailed description and the accompanying drawings illustrating a preferred embodiment thereof, in which:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a pallet and a separator in superposed relation for supporting a stack of spools of wire with parts of the separator and the pallet broken away and showing the spools to be heat treated in dotted lines;

Fig. 2 is a front elevational sectional view of the pallet. and separator supporting a stack of spools of wire with Bill parts broken away and showing the spools in dotted lines;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary perspective view of a separator;

Fig. 4' is a fragmentary perspective view of the pallet;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical sectional view through the pallet and separator taken along the line 5-5 of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view taken through a pallet and a separator in nested relation looking in the direction of the section line 6-6 of Fig. 1.

The present pallets 10 and the separators 11 were designed to supporta plurality of spools 12 of wire or other articles in superposed layers for movement through an annealing furnace and to permit free circulation of members 20 extending laterally between the members 18 .The lattice frames 15 and 16 are and welded thereto. mounted in vertically spaced and fixed relation to each other by a plurailty of vertical frame members 22 in the form of short sections of channel iron, the flanges 23 of which engage the frames 15 and 16 and are. welded thereto in laterally spaced relation to each other and in alignment with the longitudinal and lateral frame members 18 and 20 of the lower frame 16. tice frame 15 the longitudinal and lateral frame members 18 and 20 disposed along the edge. thereof is in the form of an angle iron having an upwardly directed flange 25,

and on the lower surface of the lower frame 16 a bar 26 is welded forming a supporting flange along the outeredge portion of the frame. The upper flange .25 is offset inwardly with respect to the lower flange 26.-permitting a plurality of the pallets 10 to be stacked on one another with the flanges 25 of one nesting with the flanges 26 of another. i I

A rectangular steel plate' 28 having perforations 29 therein is supported on the upper surface of the upper lattice frame 15 and is retained'against lateral displacement thereon by the flanges 25. The plate 28 forms a supporting platform or surface on which the spools of wire 12 or other articles to be annealed are placed and the flanges 25 projecting above the plate 28 serve to retain-the articles thereon. When the relatively heavy spools of wire 12 are lifted up by the operator and lowered onto the plate 28 of ,the pallet in a swinging and downwardly dropping movementof the. spool, the repeated 1 impact of the spools against the plate deform it and render it somewhat dish-shaped and uneven. To overcome the distortion of the steel plate, the plate is inverted after each annealing operation with the result that additional the outer edge of the sheet 32 and to a portion of the bars 34 to form a downwardly extending flange around the plate 32. The flanges 34 and 35 of the separator are thus offset relative to each other and are adapted to nest with flanges of other separators and with the flanges 25 and 26 of the pallets to permit stacking of the pallets and the separators when they are not in use.

is provided having a skeleton framework for supporting a layer of articles and which may readily be engaged by the fork of a lift truck from any side of the pallet Patented Dec. 30, 1958.

In the upperlat- From the above it will readily be seen that a pallet from one position to another.

perforated plate 28permit free circulationof theheated gases through the pallet and among the articles thereon.

, The perforated and open construction of the separator 11 likewise permits afree circulation ofthe gases there;

through among the articles supported thereon.

A layer of spools of wire 12 brothel-articlestoibc annealed may be placed on the supporting plate 28 of the pallet and a separatorplaced ontop of the layer of spools of wireas'shown in the drawing; afterwhic'h a second layer of spools of wires 12 or other articles may be applied to the supporting plate 32 of the separatoi'. As shown in Fig. 2 ofthe drawing, two layers of spools12ares'tacked on a pallet and a separator 11 and constitute an annealing load'for a predetermined annealing furnace. Any number of layers of spools 12' or. other articles may be stacked on a pallet the second pallet engages the spool heads and is supported thereby. A lifttruck' may. then be manipulated tomove the fork thereof into the lowermost pallet and transport the stack of pallets, separators; and spools palletsandthe separators maybe stacked one on topof the other with" the pallet and separators interlocked in nested relation.

It is toibe' understood that the above-described an rangements are simply illustrative of the application of the rinciples ofthis invention. Numerous other arrangements may be readilydevised by those skilled in the art which will embody the principles of the invention and fall within the spirit and scope thereof.

What is 'claimedlist 1. A palietjfor supporting articles to be annealed comprising upper and lower flat lattice frames having integral longitudinal and lateral members, a plurality of vertical frame rnember's bonded at their ends to said upper and said lower lattice frames in laterally spaced relation toeah other for supportingsaid lattice frames in verticallyspaced relation to each other to form' an open framework into which the fork of a lift truck may be moved from any side to lift it, a reversible perforated plate supported on said upper lattice frame, and means on said upper lattice frame for retaining the perforated plate thereon against lateral displacement.

2. A pallet forfsuppo'rting articles to be annealed com:- prising a pair of vertically spaced flat lattice frames having longitudinal and lateral frarne members bonded to one another a plurality. of short sections of channel iron extending betweensaid lattice, frames in spaced relation to each other, said sections of channeliron having flanges on the ends thereof weldedto said lattice frames o formn pe rame o k v nto. which e o k. of a When not in use, the

lift truck may be moved from any side to lift the pallet, a perforated plate on the upper lattice frame, and vertical marginal flanges on each of the lattice frames capable of nesting with the flanges on another pallet whereby said pallets may be stacked on one another.

3. A pallet for supporting articles to be annealed comprising a pair of vertically spaced horizontally disposed flat lattice frames, each of said lattice frames having a plurality of first straight flat frame members disposed in parallel and laterally spaced relation to each other and a plurality of second straight flat frame members extending transversely therebetween in spaced relation to each other and with the ends thereof bonded to the first frame members, a plurality of vertical frame members bonded at their ends to said lattice frames in laterally spaced relation to each other and cooperating with the lattice frames to form an open framework into which the fork of a. lift truck may be moved from any side, a perforated plate supported on the upper one of said lattice frames, an upwardly extending flange on the upper one of said lattice frames for retaining said perforated plate thereon, and a downwardly extending flange on the lower one of said lattice frames adapted to nest with the flange on the upper lattice frame of another pallet whereby said pallets may be stacked on one another.

4. A device for supporting articles to be annealed in stacked relation comprising a pallet having a pair of vertically spaced flat lattice frames and a plurality of vertical frame members bonded at their ends to said lattice frames in laterally spaced relation to each other to form an open framework into which the fork of a lift truck may be inserted from any side, a perforated plate supported on the upper one of said lattice frames'for supporting a layer of articles thereon, an upwardly extending flange on theupper lattice frame for retaining said perforated plate thereon, a downwardly extending flange on the lower lattice frame, and a separator adapted to be placed on the layer of articles for supporting another layer of articles comprising a perforated plate having upwardly extending flanges on the edge portions thereof and a downwardly extending flange along the edge portions thereof, the upwardly extending and the downwardly extending flanges on the pallet and on the separator being laterally offset relative to each other whereby the separators and the pallets may be stacked when not in use with the flanges thereof in nesting relation.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 564,568 Meyer July 21, 1896 679,145 Harris July 23, 1901 1,504,421 Bishop Aug. 12, 1924 1,755,076 Roitzheim et al. Apr. 15, 1930 1,862,540 Koll June 14, 1932 2,033,822. Fallon Mar. 10, 1936 2,084,002 Peterson June 15, 1937 2,369,756 Sackerson Feb. 20, 1945 2,489,012 Dailey Nov. 22 1949 

